Pneumatic lifting means for grain-doors.



No. 811,690. PATENTED FEB. 6, 1906. T. E. BRANSON.

PNEUMATIC LIPTING MEANS FOR GRAIN DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED 144111.23, 1905.

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awue/m {ioz ransom PATENTED FEB. 6, 1906.

vNo. 811

T. E. BRANSON. PNEUMATIC LIFTING MEANS FOR GRAIN DOORS.

APPLICATION TILED MAE.23, 1905.

2 SHEETS-BKBBT -2.

NTED

PATENT OFFICE.

TILGHMAhl E. BRANSON, OF BELLEPLAINE, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- THIRD TOHARRY HATFIELD AND ONE-THIRD TO W. S. FOSTER, OF

BELLEPLAINE, KANSAS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 6, 1906.

A li ti fil d March 23, 1905. Serial No. 251,668.

To all whom it TIT/(by concern:

Be 1t known that I, TILGHMAN E. BRAN- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Belleplaine, in the county of Sumner and State ofKansas, have invented a new and useful Pneumatic Lifting Means forGrain- Doors, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to pneumatic lifting means for grain-doors.

The object of the present invention is to improve the constructionof'means for lifting grain-doors when the same are subjected to internalpressure resulting from a load of grain and to enable a grain-door to bereadily started and partially opened to relieve it of pressure withoutthe use of crowbars, tools, or other instruments liable to injure eitherthe door or the car and produce leaks.

A further object of the invention is to provide simple, inexpensive, andefficient means for enabling a grain-door to be'opened by compressedair, capable of use when it is desired to unload a car.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterfully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointedout in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that variouschanges in the form, proportion, size, and minor details of constructionwithin the scope of the claims maybe resorted to without departing fromthe spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portionof a car provided with pneumatic grain-door-lifting means constructed inaccordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a reverse plan viewillustrating the arrangement of the storage reservoir or tank, one ofthe lateral valves thereof being in section. 3 is a transverse sectionalview. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view of one of the verticalcylinders, the piston or plunger being raised. Fig. 5 is an enlargeddetail view illustrating the construction of the carrier and theguideway for the same.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

1 designates a grain-door composed of sections or panels pivotallyconnected by means of hinges 2. The grain-door is provided at oppositesideswith eyes 3 and hooks 4., adapted to slide on guide rods or tracks5, which are located at opposite sides of the doorway 6, as clearlyshown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The eyes receive the guide rods ortracks and are located at the intermediate portion of the door, and thehooks, which are arranged at the lower portion of the door, are adaptedto slide on and off the guide rods or tracks,

which have their lower ends terminated short of the floor of the car andsecured to the side thereof. The guide rods or tracks, which arearranged in pairs at the sides of the car, are curved inwardly at thetop thereof and are secured to the same at the median line of the car.The flexible grain-door is adaptedto be moved by hand to the upperportion of the guide rods or tracks, and it is secured at the top of thecar by means of a holding device 7, consisting of a short chain securedat one end to the top of the car and provided at the other end with ahook for engaging a loop or handle 8 of the door. The loop 9 is arrangedat the top of the car to receive the free end of the holding'device whenthe latter is not in use.

The lower edge of the door, which is reinforced by a metal bar or strip,is adapted to be engaged by projecting supporting portions or feet 10 ofslidable carriers 11, mounted in suitable guides 12 of the car andarranged substantially flush with the side and floor thereof when at thelower limit of their movement. The grain-door is secured in its closedposition by fastening-bars 13, having their lower ends detachablyinterlocked with the floor of the car and provided at their upper endswith fastening means for engaging the sides of the same. The means forslidably mounting the grain-door and the means for fastening the sameand the particular construction of the carriers and the means formounting the latter are all constructed similar to that shown,described, and claimed in an application for Letters Patent, Serial No.251 ,667, executed by me of even dateherewith.

Coming now to the resent invention, 14 14 designate vertical cy indersarranged in pairs at opposite sides of the car and located beneath thebottom thereof and having pistons or plungers 15, provided at theirlower ends with heads, and having their upper ends arranged beneath thelower edge of the grain doors and in the same vertical plane aszthe saiddoors and adapted to engage the proj ecting supporting portions or feetof the car riers for moving the same upward. The cylinders, which areprovided at their upper ends with attachment-flanges 1 1 and which arebolted or otherwise secured to the frame of the car, are connected bysupply pipes 16 with a reservoir or'tank 17, which is designed to beconnected by a line of pipe 18 with the air-pump of the locomotive,whereby it is charged with air at the desired pressure. The train-lineof the air-brake system of a train may be employed for charging thereservoir or tank with compressed air, suitable valves being provided toprevent back pressure, so that an application of the brakes will notaffect the pressure within the reservoir or tank. As the pneumaticgrain-door-lifting mechanism is operated only when lifting the door, itwill not affect the operation of the brakes while a train is running.The reservoir 17 may be located at'the center or either end of the caror at any other desired point, and it may be connected at either or bothends with the charging-line either directly or by means of branchfeed-pipes, as will be readily understood. The reservoir is mounted insuitable hangers 17, approximately U-shaped, as clearly shown in Fig. 3of the drawings, and suitably secured at the upper ends of the sides tothe frame of the car. The rounded lower portions ofthe hangers 17 aconform to the configuration of the reservoir, which is preferablycylindrical, and the said reservoir is held firmly in the hangers bymeans of blocks 18 having concaved lower faces to fit the reservoir andinterposed between the same and the frame of the car.

The reservoir is provided at opposite sides with discharge-apertures andthe discharge of the compressed air is controlled by valves 19. The bodyor casing of each valve 19 is mounted on the cylinder and is providedwith a suitable valve-seat adapted to receive the inner end of avalve-plug 20, which extends through a threaded opening of the valvebody or casing and which is provided at its outer end with a suitablehead. The valveseat is conical and the inner end of the valveplug istapered to fit the valve-seat. Each valve casing or body is providedwith laterally-disposed nipples 21, to which are coupled the inner endsof the transversely-disposed branch pipes 16. The valve-seat is locatedat a polnt between the laterally-extending nipples and the interior ofthe reservoir or tank, so that when the valve-plug is forced against theseat the escape of air to the transverse branch pipes will beefiectually cut off.

The outer ends of the branch pipes are suitably coupled to nipples orextensions of the lower ends of the vertical cylinders 14, which areprovided with horizontal vertical passages, as clearly shown in Fig. 1of the drawings. Tapered or conical valve-seats 22 are provided at thejuncture of the passages and the valve-plugs 24, which are disposedvertically, are operated to admit compressed air to the lower ends ofthe cylinders. The vertically movable pistons or plungers are therebyraised and carry with them the graindoor, which is opened sufficientlyto permit the grain to escape freely at the bottom, thereby relievingthe grain-door of internal pressure and of enabling the said door to bemoved upward on the guide rods or tracks by hand. Prior to operating thepneumatic lifting mechanism the fastening-bars are loosened at the topto permit the grain-door to move vertically. The upper ends of theplungers directly engage the vertically-movable carriers; but the lattermay be omitted and the upper ends of the pistons or plungers maydirectly engage the lower edge of the 5 door. The reservoir or tank 17is provided with a suitable gage 25 for indicating the pressure, and asuitable drain-cock 26 is also preferably employed. After the grain-doorhas been raised by the pneumatic lifting mechanism the valve 19 isclosed, and the pressure beneath the pistons or plungers may be removedby withdrawing the valve-plugs 24, or suitable blow-off cocks maybeprovided at the lower ends of the vertical cylinders for this purpose.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a car having a grain door, of a cylinder havinga grain-doorlifting piston, said grain-door being movable independentlyof the piston, and means for actuating the piston to raise the door.

2. The combination with a car having a grain-door, of a verticalcylinder located be neath the door and having a piston for partiallyopening the same, said door being movable independently of the piston toenable it to be completely opened, means for actuating the piston in itsdoor-opening movement, and means for permitting the said piston toreturn to its initial position after the door has been partially opened.

3. The combination with a car having a vertically-movable grain-door, ofa grain-door carrier arranged to detachably receive the door andslidable on the car, and permitting the door to have an inde endentopening and closing movement anc pneumatic lifting eration of the doors.

5. The combination with a car having a grain-door, of lifting mechanismembodying a storage tank or reservoir, cylinders located beneath the carand having pistons for lifting the door, pipes connecting the cylinderswith the storage tank or reservoir, and a valve located between theinner ends of the pipes for controlling the discharge of thefluid-pressure from the storage tank or reservoir and the admission ofthe same into the cylinders.

6. The combination with a car having a grain-door, of lifting mechanismembodying a fluid-pressure storage tank or reservoir, vertical cylinderslocated beneath the door and having pistons for lifting the same, branchpipes connecting the storage tank or reservoir with the lower ends ofthe cylinders, a valve located at the storage tank or reservoir forcontrolling the discharge of the fluid-pressure, and independent valvesmounted on the cylinders for controlling the admission of thefluid-pressure to the cylinders.

7. The combination with a car having opposite grain-doors, of afluid-pressure storage tank or reservoir, cylinders arranged in pairsfor lifting the grain-doors, branch pipes also disposed in pairs andextending from the storage tank or reservoir to the cylinders, andindependent valves for controlling the discharge of fluid-pressure fromthe tank or reservoir and the admission of the same into the cylinders.

8 The combination with a car having a grain-door, of a fluid-pressurestorage tank or reservoir, cylinders having pistons for raising thegrain-door, branch pipes extending from the storage tank or reservoir tothe cylinders, a valve mounted on the tank or reservoir, and havinglateral passages communicating with the said branch pipes, saidvalve-casing being provided between the passages and the storage tank orreservoir with a valve-seat, and a valve-plug arranged to engage theseat for controlling the discharge of the fluid pressure.

9. The combination with a door, of hoisting mechanism arranged normallyin position for engaging the door to partially open the same, saidhoisting mechanism having a detachable connection with the door topermit the latter to have a continued independent movement after thehoisting mechanism has raised. the door and dropped back to its normalposition.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

TILGHMAN E. BRANSON. l/Vitnesses:

IVAN HATFIELD, Lori) T. DoDsoN.

